Divergent Essay

Sometimes people are faced with tough challenges; but they just have to be courageous and face them. Divergent, by Veronica Roth; is the first novel in the Divergent series. The protagonist and narrator, Beatrice Prior, starts out as a timid, quiet girl, but later becomes a heroine who faces tough challenges, as she risks her life for others. She learns that sometimes, it is great to be timid and not stand out, but other times, that it’s a great thing to stand out and be courageous.

In the beginning of the book, Divergent, Beatrice was a quite, Abnegation girl. For example, she wasn’t aloud to ask questions or talk at the table unless her parents asked them a direct question.(Roth, 2011, p. 34) She would usually keep to herself at school and on the bus. On the day of the Choosing Ceremony, the last thing that Beatrice’s mother said to her was, “I love you. No matter what.”(Roth, 2011, 41) When Beatrice chose Dauntless, her father was not happy and he gave her ‘a look of accusation, but her mother just smiled at her. When Beatrice and the other Dauntless got to the Dauntless headquarters, one of the Dauntless leaders told them that they had to jump off the a building into a dark hole. Beatrice was the first to go and when she landed she got to pick a new name. “Think about it,” he says, a faint smile curling his lips. “You don't get to pick again.”(Roth, 2011, 60) So, she changed her name to Tris; which is short for Beatrice because she thought Beatrice just didn't sound right to her anymore. Since Tris was a smaller person, she had trouble fighting during stage one of initiation, but she managed to get through it.

Later on in the book; when in stage two and three; Tris started to become more of a Dauntless than an Abnegation. She went ziplining with the Dauntless-born initiates down from the Hancock building, which was the tallest building north of the bridge. Tension started to brew between two of the factions, Erudite and Abnegation, and Erudite continuously made attacks on the Abnegation administration. Initiation was still the most pressing thing to worry about, and at the end of stage two, Tris is shocked to find that she is ranked number one. Considering her a threat, Peter and Drew attacked her with the help of Al; who used to be her friend. Four ends up rescuing her before they were going to kill her. Al was devastated with what he did, and he killed himself as a result. Later on, Tris went to visit Caleb; her brother, in Erudite to tell him something her mother wanted him to look up. There, she encounters Jeanine Matthews, leader of Erudite; who she suspects is grouping with the Dauntless to kill all of the Divergent, including